Central Operative Unit

Central Operative Unit
Unidad Central Operativa (Spanish)
Emblem of the UCO
Active	Since 8 September 1987;37 years ago (1987-09-08)
Country	Spain
Agency	Civil Guard
Abbreviation	UCO
Structure
Agents	Mora than 700 [1]

The Central Operative Unit (Spanish : Unidad Central Operativa, UCO) is a specialized division of the Civil Guard of Spain responsible for the investigation and prosecution of the most serious forms of crime and organized crime, whether national or international, as well as support to the Territorial Units of Judicial Police, that, due to lack of personnel or resources, or because the criminal field is more than one autonomous communities, require the support of this Unit.

Functions

The main crimes that the UCO investigates are: ^[2]

• Economic crimes, including frauds, counterfeit money and smuggling.
• Drugs trafficking.
• Money laundering.
• Homicides and kidnappings.
• Crimes against the national heritage sites.
• Telematics crimes.
• Crimes against the environment, including trafficking of endangered species.
• Medicaments trafficking.
• Smuggling of valuable objects.
• Arms trafficking, explosives smuggling and hazardous goods trafficking.
• Human trafficking.
• Vehicles smuggling.

Also, the UCO has the duty to realize investigations ordered by a judge, a court or a prosecutor.

Structure

• Commander of the Unit (a Civil Guard Colonel).
  • Department of Technical and Operational Support.
  • Department of Criminal Investigation specialized in General Delinquency.
  • Department of Criminal Investigation specialized in Economic and Technological Delinquency.
  • Department of Criminal Investigation specialized in Drug Trafficking and Smuggling.
  • Unit attached to the Anti-Drug Special Attorney's Office.
  • Unit attached to the Anti-Corruption Special Attorney's Office.
  • Teams Against Organized Crime (ECO), six teams through the country.

Important cases

• February 27, 1994. Release of Maria Àngels Feliu after 492 days kidnapped.
• July 23, 2007. Arrest of Jaime Giménez Arbe (known as "The Loner") in Figueira da Foz, Portugal.
• October 27, 2009. The dismantling of a corruption plot in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, in the so-called "Pretoria Case", in which the mayor of Santa Coloma de Gramanet and other former public officials were arrested.
• October 27, 2014. The dismantling of a corruption plot called "Púnica Case". ^[3]
• July 18, 2017. The dismantling of a corruption plot in the Royal Spanish Football Federation. ^[4]

See also

• General Commissariat of Judiciary Police
• Spanish Intelligence Community
• National Police Corps

References

1. Press, Europa (2025-06-11). "Marlaska sitúa a la UCO como "pieza clave del Estado" y al PP siguiendo una "operación de Aznar" para echar al Gobierno". www.europapress.es. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
2. Unidad Central Operativa
3. Detenido Francisco Granados en una macrorredada contra la corrupción.
4. Detenidos Ángel María Villar y su hijo Gorka en una operación anticorrupción.